Fishing report

Gallatin-439cfs- The river is clear and flows are slowly increasing as the fresh snow melts. Over the past few days’ stonefly’s have been the main fly with a mayfly nymph a close second. The streamer fishing still isn’t great but you could probably pick off a few nice fish using a small white pattern like a zonker or meal ticket.

Lower Madison-1320cfs- with more sun this next week Nymphing mid-day will probably be the most effective. Baetis and October caddis are coming off sporadically throughout the day but mostly hatching in the evenings. Swinging a soft hackle in the runs and buckets in the middle of the river can also be an effective technique. Streamer fishing has increased as the browns spawn and get more territorial. Try swinging and twitching a streamer in the middle buckets of the river. Dark colors on dark days’ bright colors on bright days. Flies; October caddis #14 partridge and orange #16 Adams #18 Natural dungeon; black meal ticket; pink marabou jig

Upper Madison-714cfs- Dry fly fishing has plummeted dramatically with the snow and cooler temperature. Your best bet is to drift a stonefly and/or Baetis through the seams and buckets all throughout the river. The fish seem to be spread out to cover plenty of water. Streamer fishing is slowly picking up mostly in the evenings. With the approaching cloud cover this should only get better and better.

Yellowstone-1960cfs- Over the past few days the Lamar river in Yellowstone park has been dumping dirty water and increasing the flows. With this spike in dirty water dark streamers are most likely the best bet. Visibility is best 12-24 inches off the bank so try twitching an articulated dark pattern along the banks.

Flies; natural dungeon, black circus peanut, black meal ticket

Butte fishing

Recent rain and cooler temperatures have helped bring up the water levels in the reservoirs of SW Montana, and brought on a few good fishing opportunities. Clark Canyon Reservoir is good fishing for trolling rigs and bank fishermen this week. Nightcrawler rigs or Gold Size 7 Rapalas were the hot ticket. Fly fishermen were catching a few on Zebra Midges and Pink Ray Charles. Delmo Reservoir and the Ruby Reservoir have both been fishing fair. Nightcrawlers and Marshmallow rigs have provided limits. Panther Martin lures have been successful at Delmo this past weekend. Leech patterns stripped very slowly have been providing a lot of action on Rainbow Bug and at Georgetown Lake. The Brown Trout on the Big Hole have been active in Divide Canyon and Jerry Creek/Dickey Bridge area is producing some large and plentiful catches of whitefish. Fishing in the Jefferson has dramatically improved. Panther Martin lures, Rapalas or bait rigs are all producing fish.